I've got a late 40's Zenith table set here that someone has replaced the filter cap on (a LONG time ago, by "Jim's Radio Hospital", according to a stamp on the back). The capacitor is an old cardboard tube, wax type with two positive leads coming out of one end and the negative out of the other.

So, here's my question. The capacitor is branded "Philco". Now obviously this isn't factory, but were Philco-branded capacitors available for purchase by repair shops to use as stock replacements for servicing whatever would come in? I'm used to seeing Sprague, Mallory and other such brands as replacements but was curious about this one. I thought manufacturer-branded components were only available as factory installed when new.

The repair shop may have had a Philco branded OEM replacement part in stock, which they decided to use.

It is also likely that Philco sold off some old inventory to one of the surplus dealers like Burstein-Applebee or Olsons, who frequently ran specials on such things that they had bought for pennies on the dollar. A lot of OEM branded parts ended up on the surplus market in those days.

_________________Dennis

Experience is what you gain when the results aren't what you were expecting.

Most radio companies with franchised dealers required them to use OEM replacement parts. There were often advantages to doing so, such as better fit, better matching of original specs, etc. Many larger radio repair shops also sold new radios, so it is quite possible that Jim's Radio Hospital was a Philco dealer and they used a stock capacitor to fix your Zenith. Zenith was no different; had the shoe been on the other foot, you would have ended up with a Philco radio that had a Zenith capacitor in it.

_________________"Hell, there are no rules here--we're trying to accomplish something!"